Effect of tillage on soil biodiversity

Although nature is comprised of biological diversity soil is one of the most diverse habitats on earth and contains one of the most diverse assemblages of living organisms. Soil organisms are important elements for preserved ecosystem biodiversity and services thus assess functional and structural biodiversity in arable soils is interest. One of the main threats to soil biodiversity occurred by mechanical impacts by soil tillage in agricultural management. Furthermore, suppress soil microorganisms play important roles in many soil processes. Soil microorganisms regulate carbon and nitrogen cycling and provide nutrition to plants. Bacteria and fungi are critical for the production of soil aggregates and the conversion of plant residue to soil organic matter (SOM), that increases aggregate stability, cation exchange capacity, and water holding capacity, water infiltration and soil porosity. Several recent studies have focused on the effects of agricultural practices on the community diversity of soil microorganisms. Generally, soil microbial activity is affected negatively by soil tillage. No-till or reduced tillage systems can reduce the erosion of soil, which is not a renewable resource and is declining on much of our agricultural land. The decrease of organic matter as a result of tillage in the soil can cause decreases in soil microbial activity therefore, studding about the effect of tillage on soil microorganisms have important roles in soil biodiversity changes.